Abbott eyes victory as Coalition extends lead over Labor

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott ... the Coalition has extended its lead over Labor in the latest Australian Financial Review Nielsen poll.
Photo: Alex Ellinghausen

by
Phillip Coorey | Chief political correspondent

Tony Abbott is on track for a landslide victory in Saturday’s federal election, with the latest Australian Financial Review/Nielsen poll showing the Coalition leading Labor by 54 per cent to 46 per cent on a two-party-preferred basis.

This represents a 4 percentage point swing to the Coalition since the 2010 election, which, if replicated uniformly on election day, would see Labor lose government and a minimum of 14 seats in the House of Representatives. In all likelihood, the ALP is bracing for a larger loss of between 15 and 20 seats.

The previous poll, released a fortnight ago, had the Coalition ahead of Labor by 53 per cent to 47 per cent.

The poll – to be in published in full in AFR Weekend – sampled 1431 voters on Wednesday and Thursday evening this week, which is before and after the Coalition announced its final policy costings.

interactive

Kevin Rudd
and
Tony Abbott
have spent a frantic final day on the campaign trail that has been notable because of the seats they targeted. Mr Rudd, who is trying to minimise Labor’s loss, has focused on marginal Labor seats in Western Sydney and on the NSW Central Coast.

Related Quotes

Company Profile

“If, with one day to go, you still have doubts about Mr Abbott’s hidden massive cuts ... then don’t vote for him. It’s as basic as that,’’ said Mr Rudd, who especially targeted the 300,000-400,000 undecided voters.

Mr Abbott’s final day included targeting the Labor seat of Chisholm in Melbourne. His day was sullied by the bungled internet censorship policy.

Mr Abbott and communications spokesman
Malcolm Turnbull
slapped down MP
Paul Fletcher
, who designed a policy in which users would have had to opt out of automatic filters placed on smart phones and modems.

“We made a mistake, we corrected the mistake, it took about three minutes,’’ Mr Abbott said.

“Obviously there was a failure of quality control. I’m happy to take full responsibility, full personal responsibility.’’

Mr Abbott’s final message was to appeal to voters not to have another three years like the past six.